Oana Despa is a correspondent for RFE/RL's Romanian Service.
Romanians cast their ballots in the first round of the presidential election on November 24. Voters speaking to RFE/RL in the capital, Bucharest, seemed united in their wish for a more attractive future that could decrease the drain of talents to Western Europe.
It's been nearly half a century since Romanian communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu decided to build the House of the Republic in the heart of Bucharest. It was to be Europe's largest building at that time. Over 10,000 houses were razed, transforming a project initially conceived by Romanian King Carol II into a North Korean-style megalomaniacal endeavor.
An organization called the Group for Romania says the country has become "a colony" of "Judeo-Westerners" and called on China and Russia to save them. Some of the purported signatories insist they want no such thing.
A committee investigating the crimes of the regime of Nicolae Ceausescu says thousands of children -- orphans and unwanted kids -- died in Romania's nightmarish orphanages, many as a result of neglect, including starvation.
When elderly owners of a traditional mud house near Bucharest put their property up for sale it seemed certain demolition crews would move in to destroy yet another piece of Romania's distinctive architectural heritage. But this time, locals stepped in.
Pundits say the last-minute cancellation of a planned speech by the visiting Ukrainian president hints at weak leadership in Bucharest, sends all the wrong signals at a terrible time, and could be a sign of EU-wide Ukraine fatigue.
Some of Romania’s far-flung expats are alarmed at the extreme portrayal of their homeland in a new magazine waging culture war ahead of a big election year.
The macabre images and shocking accounts of maltreatment at privately run eldercare facilities have transfixed Romanians since a bombshell exposé that led to dozens of raids, arrests, and charges earlier this month. But the political fallout has been a long time coming.
Repurposed state-run orphanages scheduled for closure before Russia's invasion are now housing dozens of young Ukrainians with disabilities.
After years of rarely being used, "Roexit," the catchword for Romania quitting the European Union over cultural and other nationalist grievances, has exploded on social and other media in recent months.
Romania is at the forefront of a wave of COVID-19 sweeping across Central and Eastern Europe, with one of the world's highest mortality rates. But instead of urging citizens to get vaccinated and remain vigilant, some politicians continue to spew disinformation about the deadly virus.
